"I thought he was like a big silverback gorilla prowling the studio," Farage, who is still leader of the UK Independence Party and has been advising Trump ahead of the elections, said.

"He took control. He dominated Hillary Clinton. She was very much on the back foot all evening."

"He came into this debate absolutely needing a good performance after a horrendous 48 hours and an embarrassing, cringe-makingly embarrassing 48 hours.

"It was real backs to the wall stuff. He's come out of this very well. He'll be leaving here a happy man tonight."

Earlier, Farage defended Trump's lewd comments regarding women, saying they were no more than "alpha male boasting." However, he admitted that the first 15 minutes of the debate were "excruciating" and "quite awkward to watch."

"I don't suppose there has ever been a presidential debate that plumb the depths that this did in the first 15 minutes but it's been a pretty extraordinary series of revelations that have come out against both of the candidates frankly.

"I must admit I sort of thought, 'This is quite awkward to watch. It's so bad it's awkward to watch'. But once it was out of the way, it was a very good television spectacle."

BONUS: Watch Trump lurk behind Clinton in the debate.

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